Winter Morning
by Meles
Summary: It's a harsh winter morning when Felicia begins to go into labor and Ludwig begins to doubt if she's going to make it. -Rated T for the process of birth. Human AU. Veneziano and Romano are genderbent as Felicia and Chiara. GermanyxFem!Italy. I wrote this for English class...(I REGRET NOTHING)-


_**Warnings: This is a human AU. The following contains pregnancy and does not contain any male Italians. Viewer discretion is advised.**_

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><p>It was cold that day. The temperature had to be ten degrees below outside, making any cool building feel warm. The snow had been gently falling ever since the day before, leaving a good six inches or so behind. Due to all of this, schools were closed along with a few businesses here and there.<p>

Despite the harsh winter outside, Ludwig found himself feeling rather warm in his bed. He watched the snow as it continued to fall down, remembering that it was the reason he wasn't gone and working. He debated if he should sleep in. He tossed the thought away, however, knowing such a thing was no longer possible. He looked away from the window and tossed over, almost lazily to come face to face with her.

Felicia was small and very frail compared to Ludwig's athletic build. Her hair was a vibrant and soft brown, almost orange, that reminded him of milk chocolate: soft and sweet. Her flawless skin was a light and creamy color, which made Ludwig's skin all the more white. Ludwig suddenly sighed when he allowed his gaze to fall upon her stomach. He hesitated before slowly moving his hand to rest upon it. Felicia wasn't that far along now.

To say it was an accident would be strangely cruel, but that's what it was. They weren't married and didn't even have a lot of money saved up for, well, anything. Ludwig would be lying if he said he hadn't thought of adoption once or twice. It was the logical option, right? But, Felicia didn't even consider it; she wanted this child.

So, as the result, they both rented a small apartment in the city and moved in together. Ludwig remembered the first day of being there. Felicia described it as a blank canvas and it was simply begging to be painted on. So Ludwig watched as she slowly made the blank canvas into a home right before his eyes. If you haven't guessed, Felicia was an artist and paintings of hers hung on almost every wall. With time and more money, the smells and tastes of their heritage slowly began to live in the apartment as much as they did. Ludwig, though he didn't look it, was somewhat of a cook. Fresh bread, homemade jams, and cake were not a problem for him at all. And there was Felicia, who was Italian and made food like pasta, pizza, coffee, and rich wine absolutely essential. So, all in all, though it was small, the apartment was home.

Now Ludwig was jolted out of his daydreaming when Felicia's eyes gently opened. They looked to each other in soft silence. Ludwig was the first to speak.

"Hey."

Felicia let out a small laugh. "Hey."

"How are you feeling?"

She smiled. "Fine."

Ludwig nodded and got out of the bed, saying he'd start breakfast. Felicia then decided that she'd help him. Heading to the kitchen however, Felicia felt a small pain. Ludwig, naturally, asked if she was alright. She brushed him away, assuring him she was fine. Ludwig, however, proved to worry. So, every few minutes or so, he would ask if she was okay. Each time she would laugh and tell him there was nothing to worry about. He eventually decided she was right and he'd let the day drag on.

Half an hour passed and she felt the pain again. Again Ludwig asked if she was okay and again she told him to not worry. Despite this, however, Felicia felt the pain not ten minutes after saying she was fine. But this time, it seemed as if she couldn't ignore the pain anymore.

"Felicia?"

Instead of answering, she winced again.

"Felicia? Are you okay?"

After a moment of tense silence, Felicia began to mutter something. Ludwig blinked with confusion and asked her what she just said. Again she muttered. Ludwig let out a soft sigh and asked her yet again. This time, Felicia shouted.

"_I think it's time!_"

Stunned silence was quickly followed by frantic movement. Ludwig's first reaction was to get all coats and boots needed to get to the car only to stop and remember their car was getting fixed and they wouldn't be getting it back until tomorrow. He inwardly screamed before going back to Felicia. He swallowed hard as he heard her quietly scream. Ludwig felt his heart beat faster and faster as he tried to think of a way to get to the hospital. He quietly gasped when he remembered something.

"Just hold on Felicia! Okay?"

Felicia nodded and Ludwig ran over to the phone. He frantically dialed his brother's number and waited for him to answer. It wasn't that long before he heard a funny 'hello.'

"Gilbert! Listen-!"

"Oh hey bro! How you doin?'"

"Felicia's in labor! We need you to drive us to the hospital!"

Gilbert was silent. "About that..."

"What?"

"Francis and Antonio are here. It's game night."

"I don't care! This is more important!"

"But what about Francis and Antonio?"

Ludwig groaned. "You know what? Fine! Bring them and get over here!"

"Wait. Why are we driving you?"

"Because our car is broken."

"That's unfortunate."

"Just get over here!" Ludwig said before hanging up.

Ludwig then braced himself for the next phonecall. He dialed the number and waited.

"What do _you_ want?" Ludwig heard.

"Chiara! Sorry for calling you, but this is important!"

He heard a sigh. "What did you do?"

"Your sister's in labor!"

"What!?"

"We have to-!"

Too late. Chiara hung up. Ludwig sighed as he could only hope that she was coming to help and not to strangle him. He then went back to Felicia and sat on the couch with her, holding her hand. Together they waited, hoping that Gilbert and the others would come soon. It seemed to take hours though it may have been only ten minutes or so before Gilbert ran through the door, breathing heavily.

"Our cars stopped moving a quarter of a mile away from here! I'm pretty sure they're stuck!"

Ludwig's eyes widened. "What? At a time like this?"

"Don't worry; we made sure to call the hospital." Francis said.

"They say they're on the way." Antonio added with his permanent smile.

Felicia's sister then shoved her way through everyone and threw her coat down on the floor. She then quickly rolled up her sleeves and put her hair up on a pony tail. For a second, Ludwig wondered what she was doing. Then it hit him.

"Chiara...You're not...?"

"We don't have a choice." She said. "Face it, idiot. The doctors aren't going to make it and that baby is coming now."

Gilbert's eyes widened and he stepped toward Chiara. "Hey! Wait a minute! I thought you said that we'd wait for the doctors!"

"I lied."

"What!?"

"Just shut up and get me some warm water, okay?"

Gilbert bit his lip and glanced over to Felicia. His look softened and he gave a small groan before running to the kitchen. "Fine!"

Chiara then turned to Antonio and Francis. "You two get some fresh blankets and a pair of scissors."

"Wait a minute. Do you even know how to do this sort of thing?" Ludwig asked as they ran off.

"Well, I wouldn't say I have a medical career, but I did take some classes in college."

"That's not good enough!"

"Hey shut up! I'm the best you got and even if you wanted me to leave, I wouldn't. This _is _my sister after all!"

Ludwig gulped as he slowly realized she was right. He looked at the window and saw that it was still snowing. He then looked to Felicia, who only seemed to be getting worse. He sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

Chiara's tone then softened. "You just be sure to support her, okay?"

Ludwig nodded and held Felicia's hand tighter as another sharp pain seemed to surge through her.

It went on for hours. Day slowly turned into night and the snow fell even harder. Chiara had been hard at work while Antonio, Francis, and Gilbert played the role as her assistants. Felicia was obviously in great pain the whole time. She nearly passed out a couple times and her cries where almost unbearable. Ludwig had found the whole sight painful and had almost left to step outside. Just having Felicia look up to him with that look in her eyes was like having someone stab him. It was simply cruel. It took forever and some part of Ludwig thought that it would last that long and they would never see the end of it. As he held her hand as tight as he could, memories began to surface.

The memory of the first time they met came first. It was the first day of highschool. It hadn't been long until their friends quickly began to predict Ludwig's future with her. Even Chiara couldn't deny that there had been something there. When he finally decided he was done with waiting came next. Felicia had said his face looked like a tomato hadn't she? And what did Ludwig say when Felicia first told him she loved him? Did he say it back? What happened when they graduated? They had made a promise to stay together for as long as they could, right? He had fainted or something stupid when she told him she was pregnant didn't he? Maybe all of that had been for nothing. Maybe this was it. Maybe this was the day when the promise that they had made all those years ago would finally come to an end.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar sound split through the air. Ludwig felt as if he had been slapped. He looked up from Felicia's hand to see Antonio hugging Francis as he laughed with joy. Gilbert looked worn out but smiled when Ludwig looked to him. Ludwig blinked and then turned his head to the direction of the unfamiliar sound to see Chiara with her back turned to him. She then turned around and Ludwig's eyes widened once he saw what she was holding; a baby. His heart skipped a beat once she handed him the newborn and time seemed to slow.

He held her close and found himself blinking when his vision became blurry. He was a father now. He gave a slight smile before moving over to Felicia. "Felicia?"

Felicia's tired eyes slowly opened. She gave a tired smile and a quiet 'hi.' She then blinked and looked around. "Wh-Where...?"

Ludwig, at first, didn't know what she meant, but he quickly moved closer, showing her their first child. "It's a girl! A healthy little girl, just like you wanted."

Felicia smiled wider before reaching for her new daughter. Ludwig handed the newborn child over and Felicia held her close, softly whispering to her child. "Thank God. I was worried that having her here would be bad."

"What should we name her?" Ludwig asked after a short while.

Felicia thought for a moment. "Well, it was very hard to bring her into this world..." She said. "Do you like 'Lia?'"

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><p><strong>AN: **

**This is my first human AU and the first time I have written anything realistic and I have to say that I am proud. I really really ship this pairing as hardcore as I ship the original so I had to write _something_ for it otherwise I'd feel bad. This is inspired by a lot of things.**

**Clannad: After Story is one of them. I, personally, do not like Clannad: After Story or Clannad in general (due to knowing how it ends and is very unsettled by it because its supposed to be a SLICE OF LIFE anime) but it was one of the animes that had someone giving birth so there. There was also Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood which played the role of helping me with the frantic behavior. So...yeah...**

**Also, the name 'Lia' is an Italian name that means 'hard.' Felicia picked it because giving birth to her was (supposed to be) very hard on her.**

**Anyway...Hope you liked it!**


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